( REVISED 10/20/02)
I got ADSL recently and thought there was something wrong with the computer's NIC. On a regular basis, the connection icon in my Windows XP Home task bar would go wonky and I got a message that the ADSL cable was disconnected from the NIC.

The truth: the default setting in Windows XP Home for Network Adapters is to power off the NIC whenever Power Management puts the computer into Standby :wink: mode. My NIC wasn't "waking up" when I brought the computer out of standby mode.

I launched Device Manager, displayed the NIC properties window, then unchecked the Power Management option that was turning off the NIC. No more disconnect problems.

You made mention to "power off the computer" Do you mean standby, or maybe hibernate? It makes sense to power off the NIC when shutting down, and maybe in hibernate. But not in standby. I hope XP Pro doesn't suffer from this ailment as well.

-Weaver

Thanks for the edit, makes much more sense. Now onto to bigger and better things. Like asking every computer geek we know why it seems like a good idea to turn off the NIC when going into standby... Microsoft...

-Weaver

Also, ask geeks who found themselves unable to use ADSL because a NIC was powered off which message they would have preferred to get: "cable disconnected" or "NIC powered off."